(The quoted passages, in smaller type, were not written by the Pastor,
but added by another hand, by authority of the Trustees.)

The Second Presbyterian Church, of Paterson, NJ, was an out-growth of
the great division of the Presbyterian body, which occurred in 1837, and
resulted in the establishment of two distinct branches; the Old School
and the New School. The latter had more sympathy with Congregationalism
than had the former, and, without injustice, any be described as the party
of progress and advance. The Old School was the conservative body, adhering
closely to ancient standards and methods. The happy re-union of the two
Schools, in 1869, combined these elements, and removed any discord that
had formerly existed between them.

But in 1837, and for several succeeding years, the strife was bitter,
and feeling ran high. Northern New Jersey had then two Presbyteries-Elizabethtown
and Newark. The First Church, of Paterson, belonged to the Newark Presbytery,
which gave its adhesion to the New School. The Presbytery of Elizabethtown
held to the Old School. Rev. Samuel FISHER, D.D., long the honored pastor
of the First Church, was a prominent member of the New School body, and
the first moderator of its General Assembly. He had then resigned his charge
here, but his influence was still very great. Rev. John F. CLARK was his
successor in Paterson.

In 1840, an effort was begun to transfer the First Church to the fellowship
of the Elizabethtown Presbytery and the Old School Assembly. The attempt
was successful, to the great disappointment of several of the session and
a number of the other members of the church. This company at once withdrew,
and established regular services in a little, vacant building, formerly
occupied by a congregation of the Protestant Methodist Church. Rev. Elias
I. RICHARDS was obtained as a supply; he being at that time unemployed
in Newark. His services began on the first Sunday in May, 1840. He subsequently
became the first pastor of the Second Church.

The formal organization was effected on May 24, 1840. The meeting was
held in their place of worship, at the N.E. corner of Hotel and Smith Streets,
and Rev. Samuel FISHER, D.D., presided by appointment of the Presbytery
of Newark.

The following persons presented letters of dismission from the First
Church of this city:

Of these, Mrs. Martha KING and Mrs. Maria GRIFFITH are now living and
members of this Church (April 1, 1880).

Messrs. Aaron KING, John BENSEN, and Caleb Munson GODWIN had been elders
of the First Church up to the moment of their withdrawal. The two former
were elected elders of the new organization, and to them were added Mr.
Samuel G. WHEELER and Dr. Lemuel BURR. Resolutions were adopted, declaring
a sincere attachment to Presbyterian doctrines and methods, and covenanting
to walk together in Christian love. The four elders were installed: Aaron
KING and John BENSEN were also chosen as deacons: Rev. Dr. FISHER delivered
an address, and the meeting closed with prayer and singing.

"The times," so Dr. FISHER declared in a letter still extant, "were
extremely inauspicious for such an undertaking." The financial panic of
1837, had prostrated the whole country, and Paterson had suffered severely.
The population of this city was then 7,598: its industries were carried
on chiefly in cotton mills and machine shops, although there were also
one or two woolen mills, a flax mill, a paper mill, the patent arms factory
where Samuel COLT the inventor of the Coltís revolver carried on business,
and two or three breweries. There was no tract of the manufacture of locomotives
or of silk. The retail stores were mostly in Van Houten Street, and in
Main Street, between Van Houten and Fair Streets. Ellison Street ran no
further East than Church Street. Paterson Street was only open from the
South side of Broadway to a point about half-way between Van Houten and
Ellison Streets. The railroad depot was on Main Street, opposite Grand
Street; the latter being only open from Spruce Street to Main Street. The
First Presbyterian, St. Paulís Episcopal, Second Reformed, and Cross Street
M.E. Churches stood where they now do, though the buildings of the two
former have since been entirely renewed. The Free Independent Presbyterian
Church, of which the Congregational body is the present successor, stood
on the South side of Congress (now part of Market) Street, not far West
of Prospect Street. The First Reformed Dutch Church was situated where
the present town clock building stands, on the East side of Main Street,
near Ellison Street. The First, and only Baptist Congregation worshipped
on Broadway, in the frame building now occupied by the second German Presbyterian
Church.

The new Second Presbyterian Organization continued its services in the
little building at Hotel and Smith streets. The Rev. E.I. RICHARDS was
regularly called, Oct. 19, 1840, having served several months as supply.
Soon after that date, he was ordained and installed by the Newark Presbytery.
His salary was $700 yearly, and he paid $100 annual house-rent. He was
born in Devonshire, England, but was brought to this country when three
years of age. His voice was sweet and winning, his manner gentle and persuasive,
his preaching able and impressive. His little flock dearly loved him, and
were sad and sorry when he asked, on Aug. 4, 1842, a dismissal, in order
to undertake a new mission enterprise in Philadelphia. That undertaking
did not succeed. About 1844, he accepted a call to Reading, Pa., and continued
there until his death, on March 25, 1872, at the age of 59 years.

During his pastorate here, in the effort to secure a better place of
worship, purchase was made in the Spring of 1841, of the three lots then
known as Nos. 34, 36, and 38 Ellison Street, the site of the present residence
of Socrates TUTTLE, Esq. The cost of $1,750, and the property was entirely
unimproved. It was soon after sold to Moses TIER, of New York. Instead,
upon Sept. 18, 1841, an ancient frame structure on Prospect Street, North
of Ellison Street, standing upon a lot, 55 x 129 feet, was bought with
the $1,750, and the Congregation removed thither soon after.

The successor of Mr. RICHARDS was Rev. George R.H. SHUMWAY, who came
as a stated supply His name first appears on Oct. 15, 1842. He was a pious
and worthy man, but his success was small, and the whole aspect of the
field grew more and mire discouraging. One of his children died here in
the Summer of 1843, and lies buried in the Presbyterian cemetery at Sandy
Hill. He withdrew soon after; his last trace being a letter dated August,
1843, asking, with great gentleness and courtesy, for payment of arrears
of salary. He was quickly called to Newark, NY, and there for more than
twenty-five years was distinguished as a pastor whose church was largely
and frequently blessed with revivals. He afterward accepted a call to Lawrenceville,
Pa., where he died about 1874.

Our own church was at the very verge of dissolution when Mr. SHUMWAY
left. A proposition was made to disband. This was strenuously opposed by
Mr. E. Boudinot ATTERBURY, who, through his father, Mr. Lewis ATTERBURY,
enlisted the sympathy of the Rev. T.H. SKINNER, D.D., then pastor of the
Mercer Street Church in New York City. His son, Rev. Thomas H. SKINNER,
Jr., had very recently graduated from the Union Theological Seminary. By
his fatherís counsel, he came here in the latter part of 1843, and brought
with him, from the American Home Missionary Society, important aid toward
making up his salary, which was fixed at $600 yearly. Under his administration
the two lots new owned and occupied by the church at the corner of Church
and Ellison Streets, were purchased for $1,500, and a small frame building,
of a single room, seating about 300 persons, were erected. In his fatherís
congregation he raised some $1,500, which was a considerable part of the
cost of the new edifice. The property on Prospect Street was sold April
15, 1845, for $1,750, to the Prospect Street M.E. congregation, by whom
their present brick structure was afterward erected. The new Second Presbyterian
Church was finished and occupied in the Spring of 1846. On July 29, 1846,
Rev. Mr. SKINNER was relieved from his pastorate that he might accept a
call to the Carmine Street Church, of New York city.

His successor was the Rev. Michael F. LIEBENAU, who was called from
New Paltz Landing, on the Hudson. The date was Aug. 17, 1846, and he remained
here until 1849 or 1850, when re turned to his former charge. His pulpit
talents were good, and under him the church received its first considerable
accessions upon profession of faith. During his labors here, the aid of
the Home Missionary society was withdrawn (Sept. 6, 1848), and the church
became solely responsible for his salary of $600 per annum.

Rev. Stephen D. WARD began his ministry here in 1850. Under him the
fortunes of the church waned again. He withdrew toward the close of 1852,
and has been dead for many years.

The pulpit was vacant until the Spring, or early Summer, of 1853, when
Rev. Robert W. LANDIS was settled. Although a man of learning and ability,
his pastorate was not prosperous and closed in less than three years. During
his stay, however, a basement was added to the church (in the Spring of
1855), thus furnishing better accommodations to the Sunday School

After the resignation of Mr. LANDIS, there were several dreary months
of vacancy. In August, 1856, Rev. Ebenezer CHEEVER, of Bloomfield, NJ was
invited to supply the pulpit, and continued to do so until March 2, 1858,
when he was duly installed as pastor. He was an old man, but his labors
were abundant, and the church grew with a steady and substantial increase.
Consequently, in 1860, the edifice was enlarged by fully one-third. In
the Spring of 1862, Mr. CHEEVERís health failed, and he asked a vacation
of three months, which was granted. Returning in September, he offered
his resignation, and went to Ypsilanti, Mich., where he died in 1864, aged
74 years.

Rev. Charles D. SHAW came as temporary supply for the last Sunday of
June, 1862; he being then a very recent graduate of Union Theological Seminary.
He was afterward engaged to fill the pulpit until he first of September.
Regularly called in October, 1862, he was ordained and installed on the
fifth of November. The membership was nominally 119, but many names on
the roll were memories only. The salary was $800, which was increased to
$1,000 early in 1863; raised to $1,200 soon after, and, in the Spring of
1864, fixed at $1,400.

Near the close of 1863, Mr. Henry C. STIMSON, then a member of this
church, gave $2,000 for a three-fold object, viz.: paying the debt of the
church, which was $700; purchasing an organ; and buying or building a parsonage.
The congregation accepted the gift, and additional subscriptions were quickly
made in order to carry out the design. The mortgage was soon cancelled;
an organ costing $1,500 was built by Jardine & Son, erected in the
building - the gallery being extended to receive it - and opened with a
grand concert on the evening of June 16, 1864. The parsonage now belonging
to the congregation was bought Sept. 30, 1865, for $5,500, and the pastorís
family moved into it in November of that year.

The spiritual increase though not rapid was steady and wholesome. The
Sunday School throve and flourished. To furnish it with a better and worthier
room the basement was enlarged and improved; the work beginning on Feb.
4, 1867. On Friday evening, March 1, 1867, the new and beautiful apartment
was re-opened and re-dedicated.

"The enlargement and renovation of the Sabbath school
room, and the personal interest of a pastor, young, enthusiastic, and devoted,
made itself immediately manifest in the condition of the school.

"Under the superintendence of Mr. J.N.W. WRIGHT, succeeded
by Mr. Watts COOKE (present incumbent), with the constant presence of hearty
co-operation of their pastor, the teachers and scholars felt they were
an integral part of the church. It grew in numbers and influence, and during
the pastorate of Mr. HOPWOOD, this seed developed into much fruit, as is
shown by the records of admission to the membership of the church."

The Rev. Mr. SHAW was called to the Central Church of Wilmington, Del.,
and on Aug. 4, 1867, held his last service here, closing a pastorate of
about five years.

The Rev. Isaiah B. HOPWOOD, pastor of the Congregational Church of Parkville,
L.I., was called in October, and began his regular labors, Nov. 10, 1867.
Until the first of June, 1874, he filled his post and made full proof of
his ministry. Wise in counsel, patient in adversity, resolute of will,
having a clear purpose and a strong grasp, he conquered a great success.
Additions to the church were numerous under his pastorate. In the Fall
of 1869, the Sunday school room was again enlarged. In 1870, the consequence
of the changes incident to the re-union of the Old and New School Assemblies,
the church was transferred from the Newark Presbytery to the Presbytery
of Jersey City. In 1872, the salary was advanced to $1,800. In 1873, the
interior of the church building was repaired and re-painted, the pulpit
platform altered, a new desk supplied and improved reflectors for lighting
were placed in the ceiling. when in June, 1874, Mr. HOPWOOD departed to
accept a call to Calvary Church, Newark, NJ, the deepest regret was felt
by the entire congregation. Love and regard and prayerful good wishes followed
him, and still follow him although nearly six years have passed.

The Rev. Charles D. SHAW was re-called, and resumed his labors, Nov.
1, 1874. His installation took place May 5, 1874. His installation took
place May 5, 1875, at the hands of the Presbytery of Jersey City.

"The Sunday school element was a valuable and energetic
feature in the church proper, which gradually emerging from the financial
cloud so long hanging over it, began to be both progressive and aggressive.
The preaching, plain, forcible, and eloquent, attracted many new faces
to its services. Its prayer meetings were well attended and fervent in
spirit. The result in Godís hands was plain. Both church and Sabbath school
accommodations were found to be too limited. Then occurred what proved
to be a blessing in disguise.

"On Saturday evening, March 18, 1876, the building
caught fire from a defective flue, and was considerably damaged by fire
and deluged with water. With surprising unanimity congregation and pastor
resolved not to repair but to tear down and re-build with enlarged borders.
additional ground was purchased in the rear of the old property, and in
July, 1876, was commenced with the erection of the brick and stone structure
now occupied by the congregation. The corner stone was laid on Thursday,
Sept. 21, at 2 P.M. The lecture room was dedicated and occupied on Sunday,
Feb. 18, 1877, and the church proper on Sunday, June 3, 1877. The style
of architecture is novel and pleasing. Its size is 50 x 103 feet, with
a seating capacity in audience room of 720 persons. Out of a total out-lay
of $30,000, all but $5,000 was paid in cash, and the $5,000 mortgage then
authorized is the only indebtedness of the congregation, and is expected
to be removed by the accumulation of a sinking fund of about $1,000 per
annum. The blessing was not confined to the new building, however. The
pastorís relations to the church were most happy. Its growth and prosperity
were his chief aim; his efforts were ably and cheerfully seconded by his
people.

"Brought into closer contact by the deprivation of
their own pews, the services during the building of the church, held in
St. Paulís Chapel and the Opera House, partook more of the character of
social meetings. So each family were brought nearer to their neighbors,
and a feeling of fellowship thus originating was cemented by the striving
of all to contribute liberally to the cost of construction. This feeling,
or sense of individual ownership in the church building, developed greater
love of Godís worship, and the spiritual condition improved inevitably
with its temporal prosperity.

"Since the completion and occupancy of the new building,
its seating capacity has been all needed. Morning and evening services
are attended by full congregations; while, what is more important, every
Communion service brings with it new candidates for admission who desire
to have their names also recorded in the "Lambs Book of Life."

"The Sabbath school has also grown beyond all precedent,
and is not merely in theory, but in fact, the nursery of the church.

"Pastor and people vie with each other in striving
to make this a veritable "Church of Christ." Naturally vigorous, earnest
and hopeful, the pastor with admirable discretion, assisted by his experience,
has always the "right work in the right place." An counselor, preacher,
teacher, and friend, he by Godís blessing has accomplished, and is accomplishing,
a noble and worthy work for his Master; and may we not hope that under
our Fatherís guidance and in His way the work may go one and the second
Presbyterian Church be always found in the foremost rank of those seeking
to pull down Satan and his strongholds, and to implant the principles of
true religion, pure and undefiled, in the name of Him who sent His followers
into the world to preach the Gospel to every creature."

In November, 1877, by a unanimous vote of the congregation, the system
of rotary eldership was adopted. Messrs. John COOKE, Jonathan JOHNSON,
David STEWART, John JOHNSON, W. Oakley FAYERWEATHER, and William SCOTT
were elected as elders on Nov. 21. Messrs. John COOKE and William SCOTT
declined to serve; the session was therefore re-organized with four members.
Of these, Mr. Jonathan JOHNSON was to serve for six years; and Mr. W.O.
FAYERWEATHER for two years. Upon Nov. 19, 1879, the two years term having
expired, Mr. FAYERWEATHER was re-elected for six years, and Mr. Daniel
MILLER was chosen for the same period.

The present living membership of the church is 323. The Sunday school,
always increasing, has 643 members, with an average attendance of 450.
Its officers number 16; the roll of teachers comprises 42 names. Its efficient
officers, faithful teachers, and intelligent, orderly scholars make it
the delight and glory of the church.

We boast not in ourselves, but we make mention of the good things the
Lord hath done for us, wherein we rejoice and are exceeding glad.

LIST OF PASTORS

(With one or two exceptions, these dates are those officially given
by the Presbytery, and vary slightly from those of actual beginning and
termination of labors.)